Russia-Ukraine War: Stranded Nigerians Arrive Abuja [VIDEO]

The first batch of Nigerian evacuees who left Bucharest, Romania safely have arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja.

Ukraine-based Nigerians arrived in the country on Friday morning from Romania.

Max Air flight VM602 from Bucharest landed in Abuja at about 7:10 am with the next flight from Hungary currently being expected.

“To God be the glory, Max Air evacuation flight VM602 from Bucharest touched down in Abuja,” Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) confirmed.

"To God be the glory Max Air Evacuation flight VM602 from Bucharest touched down in Abuja??#NigeriansInUkraine— Abike Dabiri-Erewa", she tweeted.

VIDEO:
EVACUATION:

First Batch of Nigerians from #Ukraine arrive Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja from Romania at 7:10 am.@NigeriaGov @abikedabiri @toluogunlesi @MobilePunch @LeadershipNGA @nannews_ng @NTANewsNow @APCUKingdom @thecableng #NigeriansInUkraine #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/iGWKdXCzq9

— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) March 4, 2022

According to a source, the federal government will give $100 each to the Ukraine returnees upon their arrival.

Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry had on Wednesday announced that it expects to receive the first batch of evacuees from Ukraine on Thursday.

According to the foreign ministry’s statement, over 2,000 Nigerians fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, as of Tuesday night, have been received by Nigerian missions in countries around the area, including Slovakia, Romania, Poland, and Hungary.

There are about 5,600 Nigerian students in Ukraine, the Nigerian foreign affairs ministry had confirmed.

Eight days into the war, at least one million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, the United Nations said, warning that “at this rate” the exodus could become “the biggest refugee crisis this century”.

This number is more than two percent of Ukraine’s 44 million population.